Blessed John Paul II’s secretary says meeting with Legionaries founder was a mistake

Father Marcial Maciel Degollado with Blessed John Paul II in 2000 (CNS)

Cardinal Dziwisz makes comments about the late Pope in new book

Blessed John Paul II’s 2004 meeting with and praise of the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, who later was banished to a life of penance because of sexual abuse, was a mistake, said the late Pope’s longtime secretary.

“The Holy Father should not have received that individual,” said Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, who served as personal secretary to the former Pope for 39 years.

In a new book, Ho Vissuto con un Santo (I Lived with a Saint), released in early November, Cardinal Dziwisz said the meeting was just one example of a serious lack of communication in the Roman Curia, which Blessed John Paul tried, largely without success, to reform.

Although rumours had been circulating for years that the Legion’s founder, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, had sexually abused seminarians, Cardinal Dziwisz said, “When the Holy Father met him, he knew nothing, absolutely nothing. For him, he was still the founder of a great religious order and that’s it. No one had told him anything, not even about the rumours going around.”

“Unfortunately,” the cardinal said, “it was the consequence of a still extremely bureaucratic structure” where important information was not always shared.

A similar lack of communication, he said, led to retired Benedict XVI lifting the excommunication of traditionalist Bishop Richard Williamson in 2009 before finding out the bishop was a Holocaust denier when “it would have been enough to check the internet” to discover it.

After John Paul II was elected in 1978, the first non-Italian Pope in more than 450 years, he said, “some in the Curia called him ‘the Polish Pope,’ and I don’t think they meant it in a positive way.”

The late Pope tried to reform the Curia, but did not succeed, Cardinal Dziwisz said. “Maybe the Curia wasn’t ready to accept a reform that would return it to an effective function of service to the pope and the bishops, and, therefore, to being an authentic instrument of communion between the Holy See and local churches.”

Cardinal Dziwisz, who participated in the conclave that elected Pope Francis in March, said that in their pre-conclave meetings the cardinals discussed the urgent need to reform the Curia. Pope Francis “already has made important decisions and launched a series of initiatives that are sure to bring big changes to the curial structure and to relations between the Roman Curia and the local churches,” he said.

The Polish cardinal also addressed criticisms by victims of clerical sexual abuse and some media, who believe Blessed John Paul did not do enough to protect victims and punish guilty priests. In the book, presented as a “conversation” with Italian journalist Gian Franco Svidercoschi, Cardinal Dziwisz said, “from the moment the scandal erupted, especially in the United States, there was perfect agreement between John Paul II and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in confronting the problem” and in deciding to transfer the cases from local dioceses to the congregation.

“I find it insulting, I repeat, insulting,” Cardinal Dziwisz said, “that some people continue to put John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, first as congregation prefect, then as Pope, in opposition on this question, attributing to one or the other a desire to cover up this horrible plague.”

Cardinal Dziwisz not only served as the Pope’s personal secretary throughout his almost 27-year pontificate, but was his secretary in Krakow, had been a student of the then-Father Karol Wojtyla in the seminary and was ordained to the priesthood by him in 1963.

“I was convinced he was a saint from the moment Father Wojtyla was my seminary professor,” he said. “This conviction was reinforced with the passage of time, living alongside him first in Krakow, then at the Vatican.”

You Doggie do you remember Judas and how close he remained to Jesus (God) himself. Jesus never outed him in public even though as GOD he knew everything about the man! You are sooooo ignorant – when is the last time you went to confession?

IntellectOne

The complete miracle cures of two women. First one is a nun in France that had Parkinson Disease. Cured over-night.
The other is a woman from South America that had a Brain Aneurism and she was cured and well instantly.

Just a voice

I love how you twist words. No. What I’m saying is that in 2 minutes of Internet searching I was able to prove to you that yes, there WAS one bishop we know about who reported him, plus two diplomatic pouches which means that those two complaints also went through an official chancery office or canon lawyer to reach the Vatican.

It is also known that there WERE more investigations and complaints than what the Vatican has chosen to release. We’d like to see them! And it sounds like you agree with me on this point at least.

IntellectOne

First of all , can you prove that Bishops sent the file of a priest that abused, as an example, an altar boy and John Paul II failed to defrock him? Secondly, do you know if the Bishops even notified Rome, or tried and failed badly, by their own attempts on the handling of abuse cases? Thirdly, John Paul II was a Missionary and had Mercy for his theme. How can you convert a non-Caholic if you do not respect them as human-beings. John Paul II was on a Mission to convert. If you know your faith and are confident to Trust in Jesus, you have nothing to fear. John Paul II was instructing, about Jesus, and was a witness for Jesus Christ to all peoples. How do you get converts by preaching only to the choir? People have to realize that the Pope is the Supreme Pontiff of the World. The Pope knows best how to deal with the different peoples around the world, much better than the individual can, from looking at events from their own perspective, from the inside. Let me ask you, if you are speaking to a Muslim Leader and he handed you a Koran and you wanted him to acknowledge that you represented Jesus Christ to the rest of the world, what would you do while the video was running?.

Pavel Chichikov

Just as a point of information: Is the idea of Mary of Magdala as a prostitute any more than a legend, or at best an inference?

Pavel Chichikov

Presumably, since Cardinal Dzwisz was there he knows what he is talking about.

There is an interesting point here: Can someone who is permitted the beatific vision also have made mistakes in judgment during his life?

I don’t know about you, but I’m profoundly out of my depth here. Still, I suspect that if it were so that saints can never have made mistakes or been remiss in some way or other, there would never be any saints.

Pavel Chichikov

If one is around the edges of any organization for long enough and keeps one’s eyes open, it is possible and even likely to see things that make one a bit queasy, if not downright distressed. I know I have, and I try to have it as my principle to keep my mouth shut, because such things are none of my business, and no one has appointed me visiting bishop, or the town crier of scandal. Or to put it another way, detraction is to be devoutly avoided. I’m only a guy in the pew.

But really, the damage done to the Church over the past decades has been very serious. Quite a few people have become disabused, angry, cynical, or have in fact departed for other faiths or perhaps no faith. That is, when one thinks of it, devastating.

Let’s admit it and go on, always keeping in mind that we are poor sinners, from the Holy Father to the guy who dusts the pews, and that we need always to ask forgiveness for our many failings, calling upon the mercy of Our Lord, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, true God and true man.

We need His mercy, and it is there for us, but to draw upon it we need the truth – there is no other way.

IntellectOne

To be in front of millions of people at the Vatican, after the deposition that Cardinal Law gave and all of his peers heard Law’s pathetic memory and obfuscations is a punishment… He is suppose to defend the Faith with his blood. That is what the Red scull cap stands for. A father that has children and gives them an education about God and continues the education even after the child has graduated. But now the child is on his own due to his age and lives away from his home. Now he has to be on his own with his own familiy, all the bishops and priest under his jurisdiction, the resonpsibilities falls squarely on the head with the scarlet zucchetto.
Blessed John Paul II is a blessing, not an embarrassement, for the Church. Because that is what the miracles indicate, so that the faithful know, that he is in Heaven. The Canonization will take place.

IntellectOne

What if , Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, went to Confession to John Paul II ?Could he, ,John Paul II , give him absolution unless, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, first went to the Authorities and turned himself in, as an abuser, and go to jail for for the rest of his life for his intrinsically evil deeds?. Under the Seal of Confession John Paul II could not say a word. He could not even let on that he knows anything. What kind of a burden that must be?. Notice Jesus never mentioned the betrayer by name and Judas left on his own to go quickly into the darkness do his dirty deed and then at the end he makes another tragic mistake. and goes out into the darkness never to return. Did Father Marcial Maciel Degollado confess his wrongs and ask for forgiveness from his victims and the public because he was accused publicly ? Or did he remain in silence in the darkness, never to return? This is just a ‘What if’ scenario not factual. This shows just how nobody knows any facts or what ever John Paul II knew and what he knew and when he knew and what was in his mind, heart, and Soul. What has been documented is known and that is that John Paul II has two miracles to his name.
Blessed John Paul II is a Saint and should be Canonized sooner than later

Pavel Chichikov

There’s a legend, or maybe it’s a joke, that when Our Lord challenged the Devil, He said that not only was He going to defeat him, He was going to do it with the dumbest and most cowardly of His disciples.

Dante had one Pope in hell and another on the way. There is nothing remotely new about Papal scandal – and I do not refer directly to recent occupants of the See.

We are poor sinners, all of us. Let us keep ourselves in proper perspective. Our glorious leaders are the martyrs of blessed memory and indelible fame in heaven, though even they were not likely to have been perfect people.

Why did Our Lord suffer such terrible and undeserved punishments on Golgotha? – and yes, all of us were there, and most of us fled. It was, perhaps, a desperate expedient as well as a most gracious and loving Sacrifice, because of what we are. Who could have saved us from ourselves but God’s Son?

Guest

If someone handed me a Koran, a book that calls the Trinity “blasphemy” and condemns the idea that Jesus Christ was God Incarnate, I sure wouldn’t kiss it. As far as converting people is concerned: more people have left the Church in the last forty years than they did in the past. Popes of the past respected other people, but that doesn’t mean they approve of their false religious practices. St. Paul said(reiterating the Psalms) that “the gods of the pagans are devils”. We can’t enter into false worship with them. Do I have proof in my own hands that the Pope knew about these bad priests? No, I don’t. But I know people, one man in particular, who were heavily involved in investigating the bad behavior of priests. They gave all of the information to the Pope. And he did nothing. Maybe because he didn’t believe it. As I said, he came from a country that endured the persecutions of both the Nazis and the Marxists.
But part of being Pope is making good judgements. When it came to the priest scandal, he didn’t do that. I’m not saying he was bad, but his lack of discernment is an obstacle to his canonization. If we lived in 1913 instead of 2013, he wouldn’t be canonized because the procedures for past canonizations were more precise. The removal of the “Devil’s Advocate” from the canonization process is problematic, and should be reinstalled in order to guarantee the integrity of the canonization procedure.

flyingtoupee

The Eastern Church has never considered Magdalene a prostitute, this tradition comes from the West. It’s an old tradition, and nothing in it precludes Magdalene from being a great saint. Augustine led a scandalous life before his conversion, and yet he is one of the greatest saints and intellects of the Church.

Guest

And yet after Law’s shameful deposition, he was given an honorary title by Pope John Paul II, who should have banished him to a monastery to do penance. By the way, a friend of mine said that the color of the Cardinal’s habit should be changed from red to yellow. Most of them in our day are more interested in what’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner than they are in defending Christ, His Church or His flock.

http://jabbapapa.wordpress.com/ Julian Lord

The Legionaries have not been disbanded — you’re misremembering.

He actually subjected them to a Pontifical Overseer.

This invalidates your point not in the slightest, and it will take likely more than 20-30 years for the good that they do to finally overcome the evil that their founder committed.

http://jabbapapa.wordpress.com/ Julian Lord

Pure slander.

http://jabbapapa.wordpress.com/ Julian Lord

And one whose pontificate was plagued with scandal

Even the Pontificate of John Paul I was plagued with scandal. I doubt you’d be able to find even one Pope, Saint Peter included, whose pontificate was free of scandal.

It is also completely absurd to expect that every Saint must be perfect, given that the number of the perfect Saints is equal to exactly one : the Holy Mother of God, Saint Mary.

http://jabbapapa.wordpress.com/ Julian Lord

JPII never made Cardinal Law return to the United States to face any kind of accusations

In reality, Cardinal Bernard Law did not leave the US until after the Court case against him was completed, and he was found not guilty.

Many vindictive and vengeful people entertain the evil desire to set him up as a scapegoat, and to punish him vicariously for the sins of others.

But if he were, as your calumnies claim, a fugitive from Justice, his legal obligations as a US citizen would require him to face charges, even in Rome. He faces no such charges.

Your expressions of hatred and lack of Charity iare as uncatholic as can be, and they are utterly contrary to the very nature of the Christian Faith ; and divorced from both Charity and Mercy.

Your voluminous calumnies against Blessed John Paul II have a whiff of Satan to them, BTW. Satan, as you are aware, has nothing but hatred against the Faithful Christians of our Church and especially against ALL of her Saints, canonised or not.

http://jabbapapa.wordpress.com/ Julian Lord

Your vilifications are sickening.

http://jabbapapa.wordpress.com/ Julian Lord

The idea that Saint Mary of Magdala was a prostitute is in fact a tenacious lie, and contrary to reality.

She was a Christian and a Disciple of Christ and a Mystic who gave up everything to follow Jesus, even to the foot of the Cross and beyond.

http://jabbapapa.wordpress.com/ Julian Lord

Still with the insults, I see

Oh please !!!

You’re the one posting endless insults and calumnies against Blessed John Paul II.

At least do us the courtesy of avoiding this sort of hypocrisy …

http://jabbapapa.wordpress.com/ Julian Lord

staged ecumenical prayer gatherings that included pagan gods

In reality, interreligious dialogue has nothing whatsoever to do with Ecumenism.

http://jabbapapa.wordpress.com/ Julian Lord

No high-ranking prelate who was at the heart of the scandal in the early 2000’s

This is ludicrous, calumnious, and just plain old wrong.

a) the heart of the actual scandal was between the 1950s and 1980s

b) by the 2000s, some fairly vigorous measures had already been put in place, particularly by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and under the Authority of Pope John Paul II

c) by the 2000s the earlier flood of child abuse cases of the late 20th Century had dwindled to a trickle

WHERE were the Police and the Press during the 1950s-1980s ? Why didn’t THEY do THEIR jobs ?

http://jabbapapa.wordpress.com/ Julian Lord

No, you’re wrong — if I were a priest, I would make Absolution conditional on a public act of confession and repentance, and I would inform the man’s Superior or Ordinary that he were in a state incompatible with the celebration of Holy Eucharist (naturally without divulging anything of the sins committed).

Second, knowledge of sins and knowledge of crimes are actually separate from each other — one who has knowledge of crimes and is then confessed to by the criminal is under no Seal of Confession concerning that external knowledge.

Also, those who in Church Trials vow to keep secrecy about any reports of sinful behaviour are not thereby prevented from reporting criminal activities to the Police, although they should naturally inform the Church Court of the fact or intention of such reports, and bearing in mind that if they are simple third parties having heard evidence during a Church Trial, then they have no legal rights to make any reports outside of that Court unless they happen to be the Bishop.

http://jabbapapa.wordpress.com/ Julian Lord

I was brought up on a diet of the infallibility of the Papacy

Translated into English : “I have been indoctrinated into a completely false understanding of the doctrine of Papal infallibility, an understanding that is objectively heretical in nature, form, and substance.”